The adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) has been identified by T. H. Lee, A. B. Lerner and V. B. Buettner, Janusch J. Biol. Chem., 236, 2970 (1961) as having a sequence of 39 amino acids, its amino-terminal 1-25 sequence having the following structure: ##STR1## Abbreviations Phe, Glu, Leu, etc. stand for the different amino acid groupings in the peptide chain and the numbers represent the positions of the amino groups in the chain according to accepted nomenclature.
It is a principal object of this invention to discover intermediate resin peptides from which biologically active peptides may be derived, particularly peptides with adrenocorticotropic hormone activity, and to provide effective processes for the commercial production of such peptides. Other more specific objects will become apparent as this specification proceeds.
We are aware of disclosures of certain laboratory methods for the synthesis of certain peptides of relatively short amino acid chain lengths. These include an article by R. B. Merrifield entitled "Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis." I. "The Synthesis of a Tetrapeptide" at pages 2149 to 2154 in Vol. 85 of Journal of the American Chemical Society (1963) and a book entitled "Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis" by John W. Stewart and Janis D. Young published by W. H. Freeman and Company of San Francisco, Calif., but find in these publications no disclosures of resin peptides having amino groups of the kind and in the sequence involved in the present invention.